Goyaałé

February 17, 2022 | Native Children’s Survival

On this day, February 17, 1909, Goyaałé [kòjàːɬɛ́], also known as Geronimo, journeyed to the spirit world. Goyaałé was born in present-day New Mexico at the headwaters of the Gila River. He was Chiricahua Apache and known to the world as a great warrior fighting for the survival of his people against the genocide and oppression of the U.S. government and its army. Goyaałé was also an influential spiritual leader and medicine man, sought out by Apache Chiefs for his revered wisdom and legendary supernatural powers.

Following the murder of his mother, Juana, his wife, Alope, and his three children, Goyaałé continued resisting white colonization of his homeland in the Southwest Apache Territories until his final surrender in 1886. Upon negotiations and terms of his final submission, Goyaałé was betrayed by the U.S. government. Along with more than 300 of his fellow Chiricahua, Goyaałé was sent to Fort Marion, Florida, never to see his homeland again. He remained a prisoner of war for 27 years. He was buried in the Apache Indian Prisoner of War Cemetery at Fort Sill Military Base in Oklahoma.

In the Spirit of Geronimo, join us in the Apache tradition of resisting the forces threatening Indigenous Peoples, Mother Earth, and All Our Relations.